Jagged lines /w American Football

[brigrigg]

Hello, I've been using Handbrake for maybe a year, converting some DVD's/Blueray's as well as recorded HDTV movies (mostly 3D animated kids movies) which have been recorded from Plex DVR via HDHomeRun network tuner, with no issues to speak of.

I've been meaning to re-encode the Super Bowl to H.264 (from it's native MPEG format), since even the version that I ran though MCEBuddy/Comskip is still 20GB. But no matter what settings I use, the yard line markers that run down the field (10 yard line, 20, 30, etc.) get jagged when they're not straight (vertical or horizontal). They look fine in the original 720p MPEG version. I've tried increasing the quality to 18, raised preset to placebo, changed frame-rate to the original of 59.94 (normally I drop to 30), tried both h.264 and h.265, interlace detection (even though the original broadcast is 720p), and both MP4 and MKV containers, but nothing seems to make it better. I read somewhere that a couple posters said they use "deblock=-1,0" for sports, but that didn't help either.

Any ideas? I could leave it at 20GB, but I'd rather not (even if I'm only going to save 9GB or so).

Thanks in advance!

[mduell]

Any ideas?

I have one, and it can be found in bold underlined red text on a pink background at the top of the page:

Activity Log is required for support requests. See Must Read: How To Get Questions Answered on These Forums for details

[brigrigg]

Wow, no need to be rude.

This might be the first time I've posted on here, but I've never seen a forum where that's a requirement for any post. I've often seen it requested for further investigation, but never a requirement.

Sorry I missed that. I can post a log on this later tonight or tomorrow (on phone now).

[mduell]

A screenshot of the jagged lines would also be helpful.

This might be the first time I've posted on here, but I've never seen a forum where that's a requirement for any post.

Are you saying you missed it before posting? If so, should they make it bigger? If not, how could they change the wording to make you take it seriously on your first post?

It gets missed a lot on first posts, which continues to utterly baffle me.

[brigrigg]

Maybe it gets missed a lot is not because of the size or color but because you're one of the only forums that requires it for every single post.

I already thought of a screenshot, tried a few times but the jagged lines didn't really come through, although I can try again. I can also try a small clip and upload it as long as I can get it small enough. But I will upload a log as well.

[brigrigg]

Ok, I posted a 30 second clip and log file on my OneDrive (let me know if you can't access it): https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApxmD_CawfeWhOhlPjeP24HQm_RzLw. I used Strong Denoise this time, but it didn't seem to help. Look at vertical yard lines near the top-left of the screen at the 3-4 second mark and the horizontal yard lines above the 50 and towards the end zone after the 11 second mark.

A screenshot doesn't really help, because I don't believe it's any one frame, but the blending of the frames together. I could try posting the original source if I new how to cut just a portion of it out without re-processing the video. Only other thing I can think of is to record a video from my phone, but I can't imagine that would show enough detail. The original might show some artifacting in those same areas, but it's definitely watchable. The Handbraked versions I don't think are.

[mduell]

Try without any of the filtering (no decomb, deinterlace, or denoise) and keeping the framerate at 60 instead of dropping to 30.

Also a less silly x264 preset.

[brigrigg]

I'm pretty sure I've already tried no filters, but I can try that (again). I know I've tried 60fps. Clarify "less silly". Like *as instead of placebo? If so, I've tried that as well.

Other thing I thought of was to rerun Mcebuddy on the source but have it do the conversion to MP4 as well (as I believe it uses Handbrake as well). I have this disabled as I figured I'd have more control over the Handbrake, and my HTPC that has Mcebuddy installed is much less powerful.

[mduell]

Literally anything other than the ends of the preset scale.

[brigrigg]

It was the deinterlace decomb filter! I had Interlace Detection off, but Deinterlace set to Decomb (I think because I read somewhere to set it that way, and it's the default for most/all of the Handbrake profiles). But once I turned decomb off (other filters were already off), the video looks fine now. Is this because the recording is from a live broadcast?

Regarding your last comment about using anything but either end of the preset scale, I've always thought that Placebo would give the best quality at the lowest size (as that what the documentation states). But you got me thinking so I did some research and found one post where the person did testing at all the presets and found that Placebo actually went down in quality. Slower seemed to be the same quality as VerySlow, making the latter not worth the extra encoding time.

Now I'm wondering if I should re-encode what I've already done! I can't with the DVR'd stuff as I've deleted the originals (unless I re-record the movies when they come back on), but I could with the few DVD/Blurays that I've done. Also wondering if I should switch to h.265 and MKV (as I didn't think it was too slow when using "slower" and not "placebo"). Ughhhhh!

Thank you for setting me straight though!!

[mduell]

Amazing what can be done when the logs are provided.

Placebo, as it's name suggests, very rarely provides any quality improvement, but it sure is slower. I wouldn't go slower than veryslow, or faster than veryfast.

I wouldn't bother moving to H.265 or MKV at this point.

[brigrigg]

I can understand your frustrations with people not reading (as I ironically have had the same frustration many a time). But I've been in IT for over 20 years, posting questions (like I did here) or helping others, and although I've seen people ask for logs, but I isn't believe I've ever seen it a requirement before even making the initial post.

Why do you say not to bother with H.265/MKV?

[mduell]

What is the point of the initial post without the log when you've already been told we have to have the log to support you? The initial post is just worthless noise; we can't help you without the log, and we told you that before you posted. By not taking the advice (i.e. following the forum rules) it shows a level of contempt for the guidance of those who answer questions on the forum right out of the gate. It may not be common to require logs for first posts, and perhaps that's why it's in bold underlined red text on a pink background that you can't possibly missed (and I sense you didn't). But ther's no excuse for the n00b thinks they know better.

H.265 -- speed loss is big, compression gain is small, compatibility is more limited
MKV -- compatibility is more limited the MP4, only use it if you need features only available in MKV

[BradleyS]

@brigrigg Yes, logs are required. More info here: https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/1.0.0/help ... y-log.html

@mduell You may be correct but you don't need to flaunt it. There's so much chrome involved with forum software, it's easy to miss in the noise.